Well.... they just started a five year road expansion project on HWY 6 from Fitch to Wm J Bryan, so you should feel right at home traffic wise...

We moved back to CSTAT four years ago. Our youngest was still at A&M ,so we had no one in the public school system here. However, I am an elementary school teacher who now is teaching in CSISD.

We moved from Austin right after COVID. Our kids were at Vandegrift High School (Leander ISD, but on the south side of Lake Travis/NW Austin). We really have missed NOTHING, honestly. We love it here and do not miss city living. We occasionally miss Lake Travis, as we had a boat on the lake, but that is really it. There are plenty of shopping and dining opportunities here. If we've needed something special, we just drive to the Woodlands. It took us a while to find doctors, so we kept ours in Austin for a couple of years until we could get appointments here. I still have my OB in Austin. I also had a really good hair stylist in Austin and could never find someone here that I liked, so I drive to Houston for that. Our oldest son and his wife lives there, so it doesn't feel like a big deal for me to go in for that appointment 4-5 times a year.

We did well on our house in Austin, so we thought we'd be able to get something really great here. We were able to upgrade some, but were still surprised by the high costs here. The first few times we went to dinner here, we were surprised by how cheap our bill felt compared to Austin, but if you go to a higher end restaurant, it is about the same as Houston.

I have no complaints about the traffic here like some. I can leave my house on most days and get anywhere in 20 minutes or less, even on game days. A bunch of road construction is up and moving right now along 6, so I'm sure that will change some, but it is still very manageable.

Regarding competitiveness of the schools, I think College Station is unique because of A&M and the type of people that work and live here. I have some good friends that have kids in CSISD and Bryan ISD, both who have lived in Austin and Houston area. They say the schools are not as competitive overall, but still competitive in both academics and athletics. I think the main thing both of them said is that due to the size of the town, the high number of blue collar workers and the way boundaries are drawn, elementary schools can feel more suburban, but once you get to high school, it is way more diverse. I also have heard that if your child is in club sports, depending on what it is, you are most likely driving to Houston.

Overall, it has been really great for us. We've had season tickets for football and basketball for years and just love being here for that. Our house is full for many sports weekends, so that makes it fun as well.

The people here are all so nice and genuine. We love the energy the university brings and like the more conservative feel of being in a smaller town. We have felt like we are finally "home" as weird as that sounds.

I think the biggest thing we miss is having a close airport. We travel a lot and that has been the hardest part. We have always been big Southwest people, so we fly out of Austin or Hobby, but just recently started flying American some, so if we needed to fly out of CSTAT, we could if he had to.

My husband and I talk about it a lot and do not regret our move at all. We are very happy here.

We are full. Look elsewhere.

Also, stop using CSTAT.

halibut sinclair said:

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We are full. Look elsewhere.

Also, stop using CSTAT.

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THIS! As a resident of CS since 1979, I can say that CSTAT, although used regularly, is not approved.

When I win the lottery, I'm going to sponsor this forum and rename it CSTAT Chat.

I use the following vernacular:

College Station
Bryan
Brazos County
Aggie Dome (that is a real thing)

One thing I'd recommend is don't get rid of your doctors in Katy until you find some here.
It may take a while. And that drive isn't that bad.

We have family/friends in Katy and drive there all the time. It's an easy drive until you get behind a batch of chicken coops on a 2-lane road.

Thanks all for the replies so far.

And for the record, I didn't use CSTAT

Moved to SoCo in 2008, left in 2025.

Initially enjoyed the goldilocks size, big enough to have restaurants and grocery stores, but less traffic than Houston.

Biggest disappointment was CSISD. Graduated 2 kids through the system and in retrospect I should have gone the private school route.

We lived in a prof heavy neighborhood, and I was amazed at the number of liberals. It was eye opening.

There are a few good doctors here, but we have to travel to Houston for specialized medical care.

As other people have pointed out, we fly out of AUS or IAH.

We are much happier living in the country. Hwy 6 runs both ways, and we are glad to have Aggieland in the rear-view mirror.

We moved back in 2018 and we love it. We didn't have to look into schools because we homeschool. We moved into an old established neighborhood in Bryan, one that we like so much that we just bought and moved to an older house 1/2 mile away. There's very little that I miss about living just north of Austin.

FlyRod said:

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I do like SoCoStat.

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Vote it down, folks.

El Gato Charro said:

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Moved to SoCo in 2008, left in 2025.

Initially enjoyed the goldilocks size, big enough to have restaurants and grocery stores, but less traffic than Houston.

Biggest disappointment was CSISD. Graduated 2 kids through the system and in retrospect I should have gone the private school route.

We lived in a prof heavy neighborhood, and I was amazed at the number of liberals. It was eye opening.

There are a few good doctors here, but we have to travel to Houston for specialized medical care.

As other people have pointed out, we fly out of AUS or IAH.

We are much happier living in the country. Hwy 6 runs both ways, and we are glad to have Aggieland in the rear-view mirror.

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You were surprised that that a lot of the profs are liberal? Most people are, in all levels of education.

For the folks complaining about BCS, we have several options coming up. One, they are opening up a retirement home near North Gate. I was told they will run an hourly shuttle to/from the Chicken/Duddley's area and Winn Dixie. Two, we are starting up an Old School fraternity. If you are 40 or over, you can join. Yearly membership will be around $100. If you have a Diner's Club Card or AARP, you will get discounts. We are working on getting a frat house in one of the high rises nearby. If you have heart problems related to height, we will need a doctor's note. Not sure what all we will do, but I can assure you that we will provide nothing of benefit to the community or academia. I can promise you that. The Godfather himself will be revealed during pledge week.